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Hygiene and standards: our year in numbers

England specific

A key aim of the FSA is to ensure that food is safe, this sections reviews the top line figures related to food hygiene and standards.

Foodborne disease: laboratory confirmed cases in UK per 100,000 population(footnote)

  • Campylobacter 101.9
  • Salmonella 8.8
  • Shiga-toxin- producing E.coli 0.89
  • Listeria monocytogenes 0.28

Public attitudes

75% reported that they trusted the FSA to ensure food is safe and what it says it is

Strategic surveillance

12,000 signals processed by our new receipt and management function.

Sampling

11,065 samples tested 245 non-compliances. £3.3 million total spend. 

Research and evidence

£16.6 million spent on science - 12.7% of FSA spend. 

Risk analysis process

Published our risk assessment relating to Fukushima import controls.

Meat food business operator compliance

98.9% meat FBOs rated 'Good' or 'Generally satisfactory'.

Food hygiene rating scheme

9,604 fewer businesses published as 'awaiting inspection'. 

Campaign: Students' guide to food safety

Aims: To increase food safety practices with young adults, particularly students, by helping them to understand the 4Cs of food hygiene (cleaning, cooking, chilling,
cross‑contamination). 

When: 17 November 2021 to 12 December 2021

Spend: £30,000

What we did: We worked with The Tab, the UK’s largest and most influential student media and youth site. They are for students, by students, with more than 1,000 student journalists. Their university network covers 88% of The Times’ top 50 universities (including England, Wales and Northern Ireland). Working with them in a paid partnership capacity, we shared content which they featured as a quiz style advertorial article, and was shared across their site and social channels. This partnership meant that we could reach a highly targeted student audience and ensure accuracy of content – whilst also appealing to a student audience through the tone of the article and imagery used. 

We also worked with a range of partners including student, community and parent organisations. The National Union of Students supported as a key partner, sharing content across platforms directly engaging with universities and their newsletter was shared with key decision makers in Student Unions across the UK.

The results

Overall we generated a reach over 167,497 students with 17,256 video views and 468 interactions. The Tab generated 32,239 unique visits and the quiz had a click 
through rate of 0.6% (which exceeded the industry bench mark of 0.3%).

Other partnership work delivered a reach of 40,700 and our own social content delivered 44 pieces of content generating 94,558 impressions with Facebook performing best against Twitter and Instagram. Our Student guide to food safety and hygiene received 1,021 visits over the four weeks.

Back to the Main report: Activities and Performances 2021/22.